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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A tribute to Teacher Macy

The best years of my life are the ones I spent within the school walls. It's kind of ironic to be saying this when back during those years, I couldn't wait to graduate from a life of perpetual quizzes, exams, term papers & projects. But when you've experienced what it's like to toil for your everyday expenses, you'd wish you were back in school worrying about project deadlines instead of stretching your budget to pay for next month's bills.

When I look back on those years, I cannot help but recall this one teacher during my sophomore year in high school who made such an impact in my life. I wouldn't be what I am now if it weren't for her.

Macy Louise Acdol was my English teacher in my 2nd year in high school. I was a new student and I was just about as tight-lipped as a clam. To cover for my inept social skills, I gravitated towards books and penned my pathetic attempts to write a Sweet Dreams-style story at the back of my unused school notebooks. When our class went to our very first overnight retreat, Teacher Macy approached me and mentioned that we were to give a card as a token of appreciation to our retreat master. She asked if I could be the one to write the class dedication and read it during the last session.

That was probably the first time I wrote anything for the public to see/hear. I remember having really fugly grammar back then, but Teacher Macy acknowledged that I had it in me to write...stuff (I didn't dare call myself a writer back then due to my grammar skills that would make you shit bricks). I can't remember exactly what she said, but it was something to the extent of continuing what I've started and that the piece I wrote was truly profound.

I guess her words stuck to me quite deeply because since then, I never stopped writing. Even when I was thinking of a course to enroll in college, I wanted to study something that had to do with writing. Even if I didn't get the course I originally wanted, my first job was all about writing. Heck, I can say from that moment, writing became everything to me.

It took my teacher's very simple and encouraging words to give me the direction that fuels my existence to this day. And for that, I can never be thankful enough.

Cheers to Teacher Macy and to the rest of the teachers all over the world! Thank you for being an influential part of our lives. Happy World Teacher's Day!

3 comments:

aaawww... Ako din, I would like to commend Teacher Macy for being the first to encourage me how to read with an American slang.. hehe. To be honest, she always prodded me to read during our first Friday masses. She encouraged everyone to read. She would even recommend reading Archie comics because it uses conversational English, unlike in some books. If there is one person that I miss nung high school, si Teacher Macy na yun.. Good job Anne!